It was nearly
an hour before Frankie decided it was time to go to his meeting and even then, he did this reluctantly.
☼☼☼
Deuce frowned at Preacher. “Don’t know whatcha talkin’
‘bout
old man. I got no connections with Angelo Buonarroti. His old man, yeah. Coupla of
his cousins too, but not him. If you lost your deal with them it ain’t on me.”
“You’re full of it,” Preacher growled. “My boys seen yours on the fuckin’ docks.”
“Can’t help it if my boys in Queens got business on the side. They got families to take care of.”
Preacher’s dark eyes narrowed and cut to his right where Dog, One Eyed Joe and Tiny sat. Next to Joe were his boys, Mick, Cox and Jase. He was seated at the end of the table directly across from Preacher. Next to him
, on the
other side of the table was Kickass Charlie, President of the MC, Notorious, and two of his boys. Shit was tense. Not one brother in this room wanted to be here. He and Preacher for their own personal reasons involving sixteen-year-old Eva and a gun and Charlie because Frankie had buried his old man a few years back. It was one of the crazy fuck's few caps that had been on the grid. Charlie's old man had been a tried and true dirty bastard.
Yeah, shit was real tense. Even without Frankie in attendance.
The meeting room door burst open with a loud bang. Startled
,
several
brothers
shot out of their chairs, pulling their pieces.
Frankie sauntered in, grinning. He was zipping up his jeans, buckling his belt and completely oblivious to the firearms pointed at his head.
"Sorry I'm late," He said to no one in particular and slid into his chair at Preacher's left.
Preacher glared at him. "Where the fuck you been?
Frankie started to open his mouth when an empty coffee cup sailed across the table hitting him in the chest.
One Eyed Joe scowled at Preacher. "He’s walkin’ in here grinnin’ like a dirty dog, zippin’ up his pants and you’re askin’ him where he was! You know where he was, you fuckin’ idiot and you know what he was doin' and who he was doin’ it with cuz that’s all the two of them ever do! Spankin’ each other, day and night, not carin' that we all gotta hear it! And you're gonna ask him stupid questions bout' where he's been knowin’ he’s gonna start talkin’
‘bout
fuckin’ my niece! And I just can’t fuckin’ stomach that shit. He says one more word about hot pussy or titty fuckin' in relation to my girl I’m puttin’ him back in the hospital!”
Frankie grinned.
His stomach dropped.
Preacher sighed. "You tryin' to say I should keep my own baby from the club? Not sure I could handle not seein' her all the time."
Dog gasped. An honest to god gasp. Like a little fucking girl. "Nobody's keepin' Eva from the club!"
"No fuckin' way!" Tiny bellowed. "She keeps my old lady off my back and does my laundry!"
"Damn straight!" Joe's fist came down on the table. "That's our girl! We didn't have Eva here who would keep the books straight? Who would cook us fuckin’ breakfast? If anyone’s gonna go it’s gonna be Frankie!"
Frankie was still grinning. "Can't kick me out. Your baby girl loves me. Case you haven't noticed that's her room I'm sleepin' in upstairs."
He blew out a breath. He hadn't wanted to come to New York, he really hadn't wanted to meet with Preacher or Charlie, he especially hadn't wanted to meet them at the Demon's MC and he fervently hadn't wanted to lay eyes on Frankie.
And now that he knew Eva was giving it up to him…he wanted to blow holes into the skulls of every asshole in the room.
And that wasn't even the worst of it. These men, her father, her uncles, three hundred pound, sweat dr
enched Tiny, all of them looked
horrified at the thought of Eva being kept out of the club like their old ladies were. Not caring that she was well aware of the debauchery that went on, probably having seen most of in, helped hide it and cleaned up after it.
She even had her own room. Her own room. At a fucking MC. What. The. Fuck.
His mistake slammed into him like a fucking freight train. He had thought her bratty and obstinate when she'd only been reacting to him wanting to push her away from what she'd always known. She hadn’t been running from him, she’d been running from the cage he’d wanted to lock her in.
"Ya think you can save the fuckin' drama for later?" Charlie asked. "Maybe we can get back to fuckin' business?"
Frankie turned his head and gave Charlie a crazy eyed, vicious smile. "Sure thing Chuck," He said pleasantly. "I fuckin' loved doin' business with your old man, gonna love doin' it with you too."
Charlie's nostrils flared but he wisely kept his mouth shut. The whole circuit knew Frankie was bad news, trigger happy and more than willing to throw down at the drop of a hat.
"Alright," Preacher growled. "If were not playin' each other then it's the fuckin' Buonarroti family that's playin' us. Someone needs to pay Sal a visit, ask him if he knows what his fuckin' kid is up to. You get the sense that he does-
The door burst open and again guns were drawn as Eva tore through room. Frankie slid down his chair and disappeared under the table.
"I see you!" She screamed. "Get out from under there and give me my purse and my chucks! I was supposed to meet Kami a half an hour ago!"
Cox sat up straight in his chair. "Kami? Where’s Kami?"
"Don't
know what you're talkin' 'bout
babe," Came the muffled, laughing reply from under the table.
"Oh, christ," Preacher muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"DADDY!"
"Busy Eva baby," He sighed. "Can we do this later?"
"NO!"
Fucking hell. She was beautiful. Hair, dark and long falling in soft waves over her shoulders and past her breasts. She was wearing makeup, more than he'd ever seen her wear, it looked good, made her appear polished, but he didn't like it. He couldn't see the freckles on her nose or the natural pink of her cheeks. Her dress was thin cotton, off the shoulder and shapeless, showing off a lot of leg, giving her a casual and sexy appearance. She looked hot as fuck, but he liked her better in baggy jeans hanging low on her hips and tiny tee shirts that showed her belly. His gaze traveled to her neck, to the gold chain still on it and his old man's tag that he knew was hanging in between her breasts underneath her dress.
She was so mad, so focused on Frankie that she hadn't even noticed him. He was staring at her, boring holes through her head and still nothing.
"Frankie, tell Eva where her shit is
‘fore
I kick the fuckin' shit outta you!"
Preacher's body jerked and a shout came from under the table. Frankie crawled out, holding his side, and glaring at Preacher.
"Franklin Salvatore Deluva," Eva snapped. "I am waiting."
Jumping to his feet Frankie pulled a cell phone out of his back pocket and tossed it to her. She caught it one handed.
"Where's the rest?" She demanded, not quite as angry as she'd been a moment ago.
"Chuck's are in the freezer babe," Frankie said, grinning.
"You put her chuck's in the freezer? With our food?" Dog asked.
"Yup."
"Huh."
Eva started tapping her bare foot. "Purse Frankie, where's my purse?"
"Purse?" Joe snorted. "Dontcha mean that fuckin' potato sack you could fit a family of midgets in?"
Preacher, Dog, Joe, Tiny and Frankie all burst out laughing.
Pissed off, Eva spun around, ready to march out of the room. Her eyes found his and she froze in mid spin and lost her footing. He shot out of his seat but Cox was closer and grabbed her waist, hoisting her up from mid fall and what would have been a nasty spill.
“Hey Foxy,” Cox whispered, grinning. She blinked up at him.
He helped her straighten up and she
quickly stepped away
, glancing warily back at Frankie.
Frankie’s face was bright red, his hands were clenched into fists, and his veins were bulging out of his neck and impressive muscles. He looked like the madman everyone thought he was.
Preacher rolled his eyes. “Frankie
,
he was just helpin' her. You bury your bullshit right fuckin’ now.”
He didn't. His crazy eyes stayed focused on Cox. Cox, who has never backed down from a challenge in his life, held Frankie's stare and didn't back down.
"FRANKLIN!" Preacher roared.
Pouting like a five year old, Frankie sat down hard in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.
Swallowing hard and avoiding any eye contact with him, Eva turned back to Frankie. "Purse baby," She said softly. "I need it."
Some of the crazy faded from Frankie's eyes and he smiled at her. "Microwave babe."
Tiny guffawed loudly and Preacher shook his head.
"Sorry I interrupted," She said, turning to Preacher. "Love you daddy, love you Uncle Joe, love you Uncle Dog and love you too, Tiny, with extra sugar."
Every single one of those men went liquid. She wasn’t just another biker brat she was
the biker brat
. The glue that held these men together. Eva Fox was the princess of The Silver Demon's MC.
Even Charlie looked affected. Girl was sweet and bright. She blinded every man in the room.
"Love you baby," She whispered to Frankie.
His heart seized.
“Fuck yeah baby,” He whispered back. “Always.”
Preacher looked back and forth between them and smiled proudly.
Since he was pretty sure he was five seconds from pulling his piece, he excused himself.
☼☼☼
"Is Mrs. Henderson expecting you?"
I glared at the snotty woman. "Yes.”
“You’re not on her list
for the day
, Ms. Fox
,
and I’m afraid I can’t let you up. The Henderson’s do not like being disturbed on the weekends.”
I slammed my fists down on the de
sk. “CALL HER!”
Scowling, the woman turned away and dialed Kami's apartment. Or rather, her two story sky rise penthouse with a bird’s eye view of Manhattan.
"Mrs. Henderson, I have a Ms. Fox here to-
The woman's jaw went slack and I knew Kami was laying into her. I could hear her screaming through the phone from where I stood.
The woman hung up. "Go on up," She said crisply, avoiding eye contact.
“Thanks,” I sneered.
I burst into Kami's cathedral foyer complete with Romanesque pillars, shoved passed a bewildered Chase -who was surprisingly wearing flannel pajamas- and ran through a series of white rooms, furnished with either white or gray furniture and colorless abstract art that didn't resemble anything I'd ever seen before in my life except maybe an ink stain after a pen explodes, and burst into Kami's bedroom.
She was lying in her king sized canopy princess bed in a pale pink teddy and a pale pink silk robe, her long blonde hair fanned out around her head, flipping through a fashion magazine.
"Kami!" I screamed, throwing myself at her. “Kill me!”
“Oh god, Evie, what’s the matter baby? Is Frankie acting crazy again?”
“No,” I whispered, rolling off her and onto her bed. “Well, yes…when isn’t Frankie acting crazy?”
“I don’t like that guy,” Chase muttered, appearing in the doorway holding a decanter of whiskey and two glasses.
He held the decanter up in offering.
"Yes please," I whispered.
I gulped it down quickly and held out my glass for a refill that I drank just as quickly. The burn of the whiskey subsided and soothing warmth spread in my
stomach. I took a deep breath.
“I walked into daddy’s office this morning and I was yelling at Frankie and then I saw Deuce and I tripped and Cox caught me and-
“COX!” Kami screamed, sitting up straight. “Cox is here?”
“Who’s Cox?” Chase asked.
“None of your business,” Kami snapped. “Oh my god Evie, did he ask about me?”
“Um…” I glanced at up at Chase. I knew he was aware of Kami's affairs, just as she was of his, but they didn't talk about them, at least not to each other and I wasn't sure how Chase would feel having to hear about it.
He shrugged. “Go right ahead Eva. I don’t give a shit who she fucks.”
“Okay,” Kami breathed, looking wildly around the room at nothing in particular. “I'm going to get changed and then we are going straight to the club.”
“Uh, Kami…”
"What?"
"Did you not hear what I just said to you?"
"You said Cox was here."
I backhanded her bicep. "Bitch! I said Deuce and Cox were here!"
"Who's Deuce?" Chase asked, taking a sip of whiskey.